The
contrast was almost equally pleasing and equally striking, as when, in
travelling through Derbyshire, after having passed a tract of dreary
moors, that seems to lengthen as you go, you suddenly descend into the
lovely vallies of Matlock or of Dovedale. Not that the vale of Falaise
may compete with those of Derbyshire, for picturesque beauty or bold
romantic character; but it has features exclusively its own; and its
deficiency in natural advantages is in some measure compensated, by the
accessories bestowed by art. The valley is fertile and well wooded: the
town itself, embosomed within rows of lofty elms, stretches along the
top of a steep rocky ridge, which rises abrupt from the vale below,
presenting an extensive line of buildings, mixed with trees, flanked
towards the east by the venerable remains of the castle of the Norman
Dukes, and at the opposite extremity, by the church of the suburb of
Guibray, planted upon an eminence. Near the centre stands the principal
church of Falaise, that of St. Gervais; and in front of the whole
extends the long line of the town walls, varied with towers, and
approached by a mound across the valley, which, as at Edinburgh, holds
the place of a bridge.
The name _Falaise_, denotes the position of the town: it is said to be a
word of Celtic origin; but I should rather suppose it to be derived from
the Saxon, and to be a modification of the German word, _fels_, a rock,
in which conjecture I find I am borne out by Adelung: _falesia_, in
modern Latinity, and _falaise_, in French, signify a rocky shore.
Pages:
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335